Split Lip Rayfield

August 24, 2006

Split Lip Rayfield is playing at Blueberry Hill’s Duck Room tonight with St. Louis’ very own The Monads. This will likely be Split Lip Rayfield’s final St. louis show, as their guitarist has cancer and, having given up on chemo, decided to go out swinging, doing the thing he loves most – playing live music. The Wichita band’s music could be best described as bluegrass punk; they feature a guitar, banjo and one string, gas tank bass guitar strung with weed whacker line, for God’s sake.

This is from the band’s press release:“For those not familiar with this ill-fated turn of events, Kirk Rundstrom, the guitar player for the aggressive bluegrass outfit Split Lip Rayfield, was diagnosed with esophageal cancer this past February (seewww.kirkrundstrom.com or http://www.splitliprayfield.com for further information). Although his treatment has unfortunately been unsuccessful thus far and thecancer has spread, Kirk has decided that music is what makes him truly happyand wants to head out to do a few last tours in SLR’s key markets – [St. Louis] being one of them. He’s opted to quit doing chemo since doctors don’texpect it to cure him and also because it ultimately makes him feel worse. However, he is still trying alternative therapies and is not giving up thefight. Since quitting chemo, he actually feels better and stronger, has been exercising and practicing regularly with Jeff, Eric and Wayne and he and the boys are excited to put everything they’ve got into these last shows. If you are familiar with Split Lip Rayfield, you’ll know that Wayne coming back for these last dates is a pretty big deal as well. Despite the harsh reality of this situation, Kirk wants his fans to know the truth and really wants to blow these tours out of the water if it’s the last thing he does by getting the word out that these are their final tours.”